A meeting to review performance of the three health research centres in Ghana has been held in Accra from the 4th to 5th of February 2020. Held under the auspices of the Research and Development Division (RDD) of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) and chaired by the Director of the Division, Dr. Abraham Hodgson, the theme for the meeting was “WORKING TOGETHER AS A TEAM TO ACHIEVE OUR MANDATE”.
The meeting was attended by the director of the Navrongo Health Research Centre, Dr. Abraham Oduro, director of the Kintampo Health Research Centre, Dr. Kwaku Poku Asante and the director of the Dodowa Health Research Centre, Dr. John Williams. These three health research centre are under the direct supervision of the RDD in Accra. Also in attendance were the Heads of the Research, Ethics and Documentation, Dissemination and Advocacy Departments of the Research and Development Division; Dr. Cornelius Debpuur, Dr. James Akazili and Dr. Ivy Osei respectively. The rest of the participants included administrators, accountants and other senior scientists from the research centres and the RDD.
Presenting an overview of the Research and Development Division, Dr Abraham Hodgson indicated the Division was established and approved by the Ghana Health Service Council in January 2009 to oversee research activities within the Service. He said the RDD is mandated to coordinate research conducted within Ghana Health Service and to provide support to the Service and its partner agencies with relevant information for decision making. The Director of the Research and Development said since its establishment, the RDD has been working to improve the conduct of health research and practice in the country. He stated that the operations of the Division are driven by the departments of Ethics, Research, Documentation, Dissemination and Advocacy, which are headed by deputy directors. These departments are charged with the responsibility of ensuring that research that is carried out within the Service is relevant and conforms to high ethical standards. Additionally, the RDD, through its Documentation, Dissemination and Advocacy department ensures that research results are documented and disseminated to relevant bodies, including policy makers for the right decisions to be taken on research findings.
The Directors for the Navrongo, Kintampo and Dodowa health research centres made presentations on research projects that were conducted and completed in the year 2019, ongoing and new research projects among others. Other major works to improve their respective research platforms, such as building the capacity of staff and major infrastructure development within the centres were also highlighted. Most of the centre heads reported having carried out studies in Malaria, Environmental health, Mental health, Family and Reproductive health and Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs) among others. Whilst indicating that majority of the research projects are funded from outside of Ghana, the centres leaders acknowledged the support of government in absorbing some key staff of the centres into the consolidated fund. According to the directors of the health research centres, such absorptions and other forms of support from government has lessened the financial burden of the centres since there was no core funding for the activities of the centres. It was however their hope that in allocating some critical logistics such as vehicles and equipment to health facilities in the country, government will consider allocating some to the research centres who form an integral part of the health delivery system in the country.
Going forward, the meeting resolved to strengthen the networks of the RDD within the Service and partner agencies, to make the Research and Development Division of the GHS more visible through further engagements and collaboration within the various sectors of the RDD and to use whatever platforms that are available to promote the activities of the Division. It was the hope of participants that the research centres, together with the RDD will collaborate more in executing more multi-site projects to further their common goal.